Thursday, April 3, 2008

Toddlers in Da House.......

       Musical chairs in the Couture and Demi Couture houses of the world !!!!!

   How is it that the oldest , most venerable houses of couture and demi -couture  are starting a trend of hiring toddlers. Freshness and Zip now equal no experience . I guess that's novel and Fashion is supposed to be just that: NOVEL.
 Ungaro is now manned by 23 year old Estabon Cortazar. Management said they needed"BUZZ....and FAST".  That sounds like' lets get some news churning and worry about what the collection looks like after'.
  Proenza Schouler almost landed on the lap of Valentino......A cozy, comely combo ....but with about 4 years experience and a combined age of 16. They are attractive young men, editors' lap dogs and have a label that draws the fashion flaks like pigs to a gourmet slop fest. Someone in Rome woke up just in time and had a doppio cappuccino . 
  There are exceptions. Age is not a barometer for success, but these houses have so much at stake in an economic environment that is wheezing at best, choking in the LUXE niche and yet BABIES are the new SAVIORS. Perhaps the Press and Management think that the public is so Lindsey/Britney-ized that they'll buy anything that has that sweet smell of TWEEN. Olivier Theysskens is doing fine with out his training wheels making collections which have refocussed the light on Balenciaga. 
  The other houses without direction: Ferre,Paco Rabanne,Chloe,etc. are grabbing at straws,twigs, sprouts to draw  attention away from a fear put into them, that they must hire a flavor not a professional. Said Flavors are starlets, untried and undisciplined, but on the tips of the lemmings tongues, led by the Uber-Lemming, Ms. Wintour of Vogue . These flavors hardly have a TASTE , or taste for that matter. But they have BUZZ. Buzz is the new substitute for experience. Amy Winehouse has BUZZ, maybe she should design Paco Rabanne.
I'm getting a touch of BUZZ, perhaps I could take the reins .
  The experienced designer is becoming a bad word. Isabel Toledo, a BRILLIANT designer, can't stay long enough at Anne Klein to position it where it belongs and was moving swiftly towards becoming, again...a great American Collection. I'm not so sure about Isaac Mizrahi and Liz Claiborne....he of the' do rag' and she of the' this and that'....but at least he's a veteran of years of his own collections and possesses an eye that could bring INTEREST and sales to that behemoth.
  The tilt-a-whirl of FASHION is getting a bit stale, why not shake it up and put talent in the shoes of the departed masters instead of filling them with BOOTIES. Chanel was smart, why can't anyone else use their heads?
   Too many sale racks are overflowing with knock-offs of the Emperor.

No comments: